The pencils and paper

This memory still puts a smile on my face every time I think about it. I still clearly remember taking my pencils and paper with me on the first day of school. The night before, I packed them in my little school bag and when I got to school and after the teacher had introduced me to my classmates, I took out my stuff and sat waiting to be told what to do.

Not sure how long it took before the teacher realized what I had in front of me but she came over and with all of the patience in the world told me that at a school for blind kids, they did not use pencils and paper. Instead, they used styluses and guides to form letters.

At first I was extremely upset and disappointed, but slowly and surely I found myself adapting to this new way of writing. I found myself starting to enjoy working with styluses and guides and then when I went home I would tell my mom and granny all about it. They were quite fascinated and even tried to learn to read Braille.

Such wonderful memories for me and I still smile and giggle to myself each time I think about this particular memory.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and tell others about my memories. Come by and visit me any time at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

From Braille to print and back

That’s me in a nutshell and what am I talking about today? Well, here goes.

In my childhood I learned to read and write Braille because I did not have enough vision to read and write print. I loved learning Braille and those dots will forever be brailled in my mind. Then, in my teens, I got new vision through a cornea transplant and I learned how to read and write print.

These were very exciting times for me but through it all I never forgot my Braille and those faithful little dots. It was so mesmerizing for me to learn how to form those letters on paper. I used pens and pencils and crayons and markers. I learned how to read with the aid of a magnifying glass and a close circuit TV. I learned how to draw and I discovered shapes and colors. The world was fascinating and fast moving. I wore glasses to read and write and to see distance.

It was all good then but as they say, nothing good lasts forever. Then, in 2004, everything returned to its original state. I had a retinal detachment and print disappeared to be replaced by Braille once more. The little dots returned and saved me from total disaster.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and tell others about my blogs. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

My signature is no different

If there is anything in this world that puts me on an equal footing with the mainstream person it is this:  Signatures that are almost impossible to decipher.  It does not matter if you can see or not, at the best of times it is almost impossible to decipher the majority of signatures.

 

When I had vision I learned how to sign my name and according to my mom it was somewhat legible if I took the time to concentrate when I was signing but now without enough vision it is almost impossible for anyone to decipher.  There are signature guides that a blind person can use when signing their name but before using this they need to learn how to form their letters.  These signature guides are very inexpensive and easy to make if you do not know where to purchase one.

 

Here's how it works.  It is made out of a piece of material that does not slip when placed on a sheet of paper; like rubber or sturdy cardboard.  The shape of the signature guide is usually rectangular with a space in the middle.  The bottom half of the guide is placed on the bottom line where the signature is to be written, the space is where the person is supposed to place their pen to sign, and the top half of the guide is meant to prevent the person from going above the space where their signature is supposed to be.  The left and right bars of the signature guide are meant to help the person remain within the designated spot so that they do not start before and finish after the spot. 

 

This may sound very complicated to the mainstream person but to learn more you can visit www.maxiaids.com.  I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to help educate others about how blind persons go about signing their names.